The latest in solar energy belongs to home theater systems. The Home Theater Specialists of America (HTSA) engineered the first solar powered surround sound system from the ground up, or should I say, the sun down?

Known as the Guiltless Green Home Theater, HTSA proves that you can have it all; environmental protection and a system any sports fan and soap opera fan can be proud of.  

After installing four solar panels on the roof of a home, HTSA wired the in wall speakers, wall mounted projection screen, and mood lighting system to the solar panel power supply. By using 700 watts and hour of renewable energy to supply power to the theater system, media lovers gain 19 hours of watching time and prevent greenhouse emissions that would have otherwise been supplied by fossil fuel electricity.

David Berman of HTSA explains that by installing “solar panels on the roof that collect the sun’s energy…you are actually spinning the meter backward.” That is, if you spend hours of your electricity demand watching TV, you might save a few bucks on your utility bill by installing Guiltless system. 

Incremental steps like these can make a difference in reducing a home’s carbon footprint. It proves that with some creative thinking, environmental stewardship is possible without having to give up a fun quality of life. 

In the spirit of Earth Day, Environmental Defense Fund has released their 2009 best of the best list.

The list is a survey across American businesses that measures new, unique, and “compelling” operation methods and tools to better a company’s environmental footprint.

The EDF lists Intel as having one of the greenest workforces. How do they do it especially amidst this economy and among being a producer of energy consuming products and raw materials?

One of Intel’s first green acts was to empower employees to live and work green. Next they set up a system to measure green progress on three levels: efficient products, efficient business operations, and other environmental stewardship efforts.

To motivate employees, Intel tied working green to earning green. This inspired engineers, analysts and administrative staff to provide the company with energy efficient products, energy saving software, and commuting options.

How can Intel afford their tree-hugger employees? The bonus package is structured on first, Intel’s net income; so they are not promising only to employees that they can’t deliver. Hey state and federal governments, did you catch that? Next, employees work toward achieving green points like they would development or sales points for a total bonus rating.

It is efforts like these that earned Intel a place on the innovations list. “Based on Intel’s own external benchmarking and the Environmental Defense Fund’s research, it still appears relatively rare for companies to link a portion of employee or executive compensation to the achievement of sustainability metrics/goals,” explained Suzanne Fallender, CSR Communications Manager (personal communication).

Money, especially in a down economy is highly motivating. But, employees have other motivations at work including bettering the environment. Intel employees bought carbon offsets and worked to install solar panels. Yes this can earn one monetary bonus points, and it also earns one green points with Mother Earth and future generations.  

In finding ways to green getting to and from work, eating at work, and actually working, employees can offset these tough economic times. Corporate responsibility takes a new form from company-wide employees like the interns, janitorial staff, product engineers, and sales associates; it’s not just an upper management responsibility anymore.

The message this Earth Day moves beyond conserving money by conserving natural resources, toward earning green by being green. And, making the best of the best list isn’t so bad either. Happy Earth Day!

Up to 20 Wal-Mart stores in California will be discounting their carbon footprints by adding solar power. The retailer will nearly double its solar power purchases in California by adding 10 megawatts of photovoltaic panels.

Wal-Mart won't own the panels at its store locations, which will provide between 20 and 30 percent of the energy needs. BP Solar will manage the equipment and provide the electricity under a power purchase agreement. Wal-Mart expects the solar panels will reduce its carbon footprint by 10,000 metric tons.

The addition of solar power is another step towards the companies goal of using 100 percent renewable energy, according to Kim Saylors-Laster, Wal-Mart's Vice President of Energy. She said the company hasn't set a deadline for its goals, which also include generating zero waste.

Someday the solar power could be used to charge customer electric vehicles. Saylors-Laster believes "there is a potential for (vehicle) charging stations around the country," but the company has not committed to installing any at this time.

Wal-Mart is also considering adding wind and geothermal as clean energy alternatives, according to Saylors-Laster. The company has developed a prototype of a new store that will reduce energy consumption by 30 percent.

According to Wal-Mart's 2009 annual sustainability report, the company recycled or reused 55 percent of its waste during the prior year.

Researchers have their heads in the clouds. They have taken samples from cirrus clouds and are finding lead.

Cirrus clouds are wispy strands of dust particles, water vapor and ice crystals. 

Research suggests that these clouds are forming more easily with the presence of lead in the atmosphere from vehicle and coal emissions. Lead in the air allows the thin, wispy clouds to “form at warmer temperatures with less water, according to the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. The group's research is published in the May issue of Nature Geoscience.

More clouds in the atmosphere may block sunlight needed to power our solar panels and impact agriculture. Additionally, more clouds can change the weather patterns including precipitation patterns and where it comes down across the globe. 

And while on cloud nine, research found that “lead-laden clouds come with a silver lining…under some conditions, these clouds let more of the earth’s heat waft back into space, cooling the world slightly. What does this mean for our warming planet? Lead based clouds may cool the warming earth a bit. 

However, climate change is a complex problem -- some parts of the planet will experience cooler temperatures and others warmer and weather patterns will vary. Lead-laden clouds may contribute to making cooler climates even cooler. 

Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

Traveling is certainly a luxury these days. But, in an effort to get away from the stresses of life, thousands are economizing their vacations through house swaps.

Individuals or families exchange houses for a period of time where the accommodations are cozy with a full kitchen and multiple beds as opposed to the typical hotel room and hotel fees.

Some of these house swap organizations are touting the eco-friendliness of home exchange. Can these benefits really be true?

On the one hand, house exchanges in aggregate could prevent the demand for a new hotel. Therefore, land is preserved, raw materials are diverted elsewhere (let’s not assume they won’t be used at some point), waste is not accrued, and greenhouse gas emissions are prevented as there will not be travel to and from the hotel.

Some other minor factors can contribute to eco-conscious travel and home exchange. For example, staying in the suburbs with a weekend farmer’s market ups the environmental benefits should the tourists walk to the market and purchase organic, and locally grown products.

"Instead of promoting a never-ending expansion of huge hotels, disposable comforts, and packaged holidays, the incremental footprint of a Home Exchange visit is virtually zero compared to a hotel stay where it would be significant," noted President of HomeExchangeNow.co.uk, Ed Kushins.

Part of the environmental savings could be from cleaning less often and avoiding disposable products. Carpets, sheets and towels are often cleaned every day at a hotel, but no one would go to the same extreme while staying in someone else's home. Also, those mini bottles of shampoo, teeny soaps and bottled water waste a lot in packaging.

However, there is an argument to be made that putting up that hotel in the middle of downtown, where the tourist attractions likely are, will prevent car travel from the suburban homes and land needed for parking lots.

Which scenario outweighs the other? The first scenario contributes to indirect environmental benefits by preventing the environmental costs associated with the tourist travel demands. The latter scenario has a high probability of being built green and saving vehicle miles traveled. The answer lies, of course, in the details. Factors that determine which scenario is ideal include the amount of travel from outlying areas by home exchange tourists into the downtown area. If the demand is small, putting up the hotel in downtown is probably not worth the land degradation and use of raw materials.

However, if travel from the suburbs is high, then the prevention of those vehicle miles traveled by staying in a hotel within walking distance of attractions is the better option.

For a true green travel experience, a tourist must research the options of the locale and then make an informed decision. While exchanging homes may not stop climate change, reducing the environmental impacts of traveling will contribute to environmental preservation.

The city of Miami and utility Florida and Power and Light don't want to build any more fossil fuel power plants. Together they are spending $700 million adding smart grid intelligence that enables consumers to conserve energy so that they won't have to.

The city of Miami is working with GE, Cisco, FPF, and Silver Spring Networks to install smart meters and an information network based on Internet technologies. The Energy Smart Miami project can automatically turn down non-essential appliances and enable consumers to shift energy consumption to off-peak hours.

As part of the program, which is funded partially by federal stimulus dollars, 1,000 homes will receive the latest tools for monitoring their energy spending. Eric Silagy - FPL Chief Development Officer says the smart grid system gives consumers "the information to make the right choice" about moving energy consumption to off-peak. Through the trial FPL will also get a better understanding of how their customers consume energy.

FPL will be installing 1 million smart meters in Miami-Dade County that enable home energy use to be reduced when the grid gets squeezed for power. Consumers can volunteer to have their thermostats respond to power price fluctuations to minimize their cost. FPL also will expand its plug-in hybrid fleet to 300 vehicles and install 50 charging stations.

The program -- which is contingent on receiving funds from the federal government, is expected to add 250 jobs per year.

A smart grid project at North Carolina State University in Raleigh gets students involved in reducing wasted energy. Energy management company Consert is working with the FREEDM (the National Science Foundation-funded Future Renewable Electric Energy Delivery and Management) initiative that can locate, measure, and verify energy savings to customers.

The system at NCSU will provide enable students to monitor their energy usage patterns either through a display terminal in their apartments or through a Web site. The system will reduce "ghost consumption" or phantom load wasted energy from devices such as idle water heaters or air conditioners.

The students will be able to choose an amount of savings to shave off their electric bills and will manage each apartment's demand to meet that goal. Consert estimates these efforts will result in a 10 to 15 percent reduction in household energy usage. Participating students will also receive high-speed internet provided by Consert.

Consert's system will also display to students not only how much actual money they're saving, but their effects on the environment. Like many smart grid systems, displaying to households the impact of their individual greenhouse gas reductions will encourage people to cut down on their energy use.

Consert's smart grid technology was designed to ease the adoption of alternative energy sources, like wind and solar and to control the energy demand of plug-in hybrid cars during peak charging hours.

The FREEDM initiative is piloting similar programs at several other institutions including Missouri S&T, Arizona State University, Florida A&M University, Florida State University, RWTH Aachen University in Germany and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Switzerland.

The smart grid money provided by the Obama administration's stimulus package has funded the creation of innovative projects such as the NCSU student program. Research such as Consert's will be integral to reducing future energy consumption and creating a more reliable power grid.